Japanese publisher One or Eight has released a playable demo for developer Team EARTHWARS’s upcoming title Warota: I Live Next to The Demon King’s Castle LOL ahead of its scheduled Early Access launch on November 13. The game previously ran multiple closed beta playtest sessions for select players between June and September. This will be the first time general players will have a chance to try the game out for themselves without having to formally apply as beta testers.
As the game’s descriptive light novel-esque title suggests, Warota puts the player in the shoes of an individual who is reincarnated into the fantasy world of Luna, which is ruled over by an arrogant and self-centered Demon King who happens to be a female pop idol. Her concerts send the nearby monsters into a frenzy, spelling disaster for the dilapidated village right next to her castle, which is the protagonist’s new home.
Gameplay strongly resembles Koei Tecmo-developed town-building RPGs like Dragon Quest Builders and the recent hit Pokémon Pokopia. As a “Bounder” blessed by the goddess with powers of creation, players must work to restore and improve the village by gathering resources, crafting structures, tending to fields, and recruiting new villagers while also fending off dangerous waves of the Demon King’s monstrous adoring fans.
The newly released demo features a taste of the game’s core mechanics, such as village building, item crafting, and combat up to the first boss battle. It offers a total of 2-3 hours of play time. Various improvements have been made since the open beta versions, including the addition of an original vocal song for the Demon King Platina Goldcaster’s concert, composed and arranged by Maron of indie music collective IOSYS (best known for their meme-spawning arrangements of music from the Touhou Project games).
The game is still said to be actively in development, with further additions and adjustments planned before the Early Access release next month. The devs have invited players to share feedback and suggestions via their official X account, community Discord server, and a Google survey linked in the demo’s announcement page.
The demo for Warota: I Live Next to the Demon King’s Castle LOL is available now, exclusively on PC (Steam) with English, Chinese and Japanese language support. PS5 and Switch 2 editions are also planned following the full release next year.
